BOSTON — As he was packing his bags, Guerschon Yabsuele had one last thing to get off his chest before leaving for paradise.
Amid celebrations with Team France after their silver-medal performance against Team USA at the Paris Olympics, his phone was buzzing with texts and tweets about how well he played on the global stage. There was an outpouring of support that showed he belonged back in a place he always wanted to be: the NBA.
“I was like, ‘This is the moment to say it,’ ” Yabusele told The Athletic. “I was just trying to get that light. I felt like I had that light in that moment.”
So he picked up his phone, opened X and made a declaration.
Been waiting for a 2nd chance.. I’m ready 😤🧸
— Guerschon Yabusele (@yabusele28) August 11, 2024
Before Yabusele left to take his family on vacation to St. Martin to relax on a beach and unplug, his agent called. A few teams were interested, but unlike in years past, the interest was real.
He told his agent to call back when he had something serious, knowing the Philadelphia 76ers had been monitoring him for some time. It didn’t take long for him to receive the call.
“I just remember grabbing my family and telling them, ‘We might go back,’ ” Yabusele said. “It was really special.”
It took just over two weeks from the end of the Olympics for him to land with the Sixers, leaving behind Real Madrid and Europe for another shot in the NBA. Yabusele was selected 16th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2016 NBA Draft, along with Jaylen Brown (No. 3 overall).
Brown went on to become the 2024 NBA Finals MVP for Boston, but Yabusele spent two underwhelming seasons there, averaging 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds in 74 games. The Celtics pushed Yabusele to get in better shape and get up to speed on defense, but it never materialized. The faint promise of the “Dancing Bear” becoming a successor to Al Horford as a versatile stretch five faded away in a flash.
“It was a hard feeling to leave the league because growing up, this was one of my dreams to come here,” he said. “I didn’t want to come here and just get a couple of years and then leave. I wanted to stay here for a long time. It was just a long process for me learning from that experience, trying to turn it into a good thing.
“I was just looking forward and trying to learn as much as I can to push for my best.”
After the Celtics released him halfway through his rookie deal, he played for the Nanjing Tongxi Monkey Kings in China before returning to France to play for ASVEL. That was when his game finally started to click and he turned around his career, leading his team to the top French league title and attracting interest from the biggest teams in Europe.
“I was just busting my ass off and playing pretty good in EuroLeague,” he said. “When I had the call from Real Madrid, it was a must-go. You can never say no to Real Madrid.”
After working his way into the Real Madrid starting lineup, Yabusele did the same for the French national team and was their second-leading scorer (14.0 ppg.) at the Olympics this summer, just behind Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.
Former first-round picks who quickly flame out in the NBA and go across the pond usually don’t make it back to the league. While Yabusele still wanted to return to the U.S. and the NBA, he had a European career most players would envy. He was paid well on an elite team, lived in a world-class city and his family was happy.
“This was another step in my career where I was like, I’m not in the league, but this is the best for me in Europe. I was just happy to be there,” he said. “I thank Real Madrid because they were a big part of me coming back here, just evolving my game and pushing. We had so many trophies, so many finals, so many things that I’m just learning every day to get better.”
While Real Madrid raised his profile in the basketball community, Team France put him back on the international stage. The host nation was an underdog to Canada and even Germany during the knockout rounds but stormed through the bracket as their frontcourt shined.
“We had a lot of doubters,” Yabusele said. “Especially some of our fans, some of the people in the organization, the people around us were doubting that we could beat Canada. Then after that it was, ‘Can we beat Germany?’ It gave me the strength and power and confidence to be like, ‘F— it. We need that.’ ”
His confidence was never more apparent than when he posterized Team USA’s LeBron James in the gold-medal game. Yabusele played one of the best games of his life to keep France in it, but Steph Curry’s crunchtime onslaught put France to bed for the title.
Even though Yabusele lost against James and Team USA, he won over the Sixers and finally got the fully guaranteed minimum deal he had been waiting for.
Now, the 28-year-old has a pathway to minutes this season as a four and a stretch five, starting at center against the Celtics on Saturday night in a preseason game. Philadelphia has long sought a backup, who has the shooting range to also play with former MVP Joel Embiid in certain lineups.
Yabusele displayed some of that range against his former team, shooting 2 of 4 from beyond the 3-point line and totaling eight points in a 139-89 loss.
Andre Drummond is slated to get the majority of the backup center minutes and likely will start if Embiid is not ready for the regular season as he strengthens his knee after surgery last season. But with Embiid likely sitting out back-t0-back games this season, Yabusele can be plugged into a variety of front-court roles.
“I think with Joel and Tyrese (Maxey), we always felt we need guys that can at least give them space to operate,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “That if the ball comes out to them, they’re willing shooters and makers a little bit.”
Nurse pointed to Yabusele’s ability to serve as a spot-up shooter who also can post up and attack the glass. He’s always had a good passing vision on the short roll and has improved his handle enough to attack the basket off the dribble in the past few seasons.
Yabusele said that while he is a better shooter now and plays better overall, the key to his improvement has been evolving and maturing. He could easily be content about returning to the NBA and riding the bench for a contender but knows what it’s like to lose that spot and fight his way back to the league.
Yabusele is ready to stick around now.
“I don’t want to stop here,” he said. “I want to keep going.”
(Photo of Guerschon Yabusele: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)
